Inside The Game/Part 4
Empath had brought the Game Wand into Handy's workshop the first thing in the morning. He explained the whole situation to Handy while he was getting himself dressed for the day ahead. "Hefty got smurfed into the game while he was playing it last night?" Handy said, sounding amazed by the whole thing. "That's real surprising, but then I'm still wondering where that game smurfed from in the first place." "We were hoping to find out the answer to that, Handy," Empath said. "For now, we need to find out where Hefty is and if there's some way that we can get him back out." "Okay, okay, let me get this thing smurfed up to the monitors and smurf out a few things," Handy said. He then plugged in a few wires to the Game Wand and turned on some window vision screens that he was using for monitors. Empath watched the monitor readouts in the hopes of understanding exactly what he was seeing. "So anything wrong with the Game Wand itself?" Empath asked. "According to these readings, everything smurfs out fine, Empath," Handy said. "All except for this, which indicates that something is in the Game Wand that doesn't belong in there." He pointed to a mark on one of the monitor readouts that looked different from what would be its normal readings. "That 'something' could be Hefty, who somehow got transported into the memory of the Game Wand itself, or it could be something else entirely," Empath said. "Whatever it is, it needs to be purged or else who knows what can happen," Handy said. "Are you sensing anything from the Game Wand itself?" Empath concentrated his telepathic abilities to scan for any presence that was within the Game Wand. "This smurf can sense Hefty, who is trapped in a world that somehow exists in the Game Wand, but he seems to be so distant that there's no way that this smurf can directly communicate with him." "I guess that means we can't remove the game from the Game Wand, or else Hefty will disappear along with the game, Empath," Handy said. "However, I'll work on a way that we can get Hefty smurfed back here, if there is anything we can smurf for him out here." "This smurf appreciates your efforts, as this smurf is sure that Hefty will, Handy," Empath said before he left Handy's workshop. ----- Hefty was now taken to the transport platform outside the Beamcycle arena, where he saw his fellow cellmate Zeron along with another blue warrior. "Auron, this is the Game Warrior I've been talking about," Zeron said as soon as he saw Hefty. The guard pushed Hefty toward the transport platform, where he got a good look at Auron up-close. "For a moment there, I thought I was smurfing at Empath being in here," Hefty mused. "Who?" Auron asked, sounding confused. "Oh...just someone I knew from somewhere else," Hefty said. "Not that I'd want to introsmurf you to him anyway." "He got taken out of the game he was playing and was transported here, Auron," Zeron mentioned. "So you're a Gametronian like the rest of us?" Auron asked. "Actually, I'm a Smurf, and the only thing I want is to smurf back home, Auron," Hefty said. "This place may be great and all, but I sure don't want to smurf my entire life in here just playing games." "Me neither," Auron said. "There's someone in Digitopolis that I'm looking forward to meeting if we ever get out of this Arena. Her name is Pixel." "Pixel," Hefty said to himself, wondering who she might look like. "Well, if we ever smurf out of here, I might help you smurf up with her again." Soon the three blue warriors were transported from there into the inside of the Beamcycle arena, with three orange warriors appearing on the far side of the arena opposite from where they were standing. "Game Warriors, prepare to enter your Beamcycles," a female voice announced. Then glowing batons appeared before each of the six warriors in the arena. They each grabbed onto the baton with both hands, and suddenly the Beamcycles materialized around them -- futuristic motorcycle vehicles in bright colors that left a wake of solid energy walls as the drivers of the vehicles moved forward. "Ready, set, go!" the female voice announced. Suddenly all six Beamcycles moved forward, leaving solid energy walls in their wake. Hefty knew how to play the game: the object was to surround his opponents with energy walls for them to crash into while avoiding the same being done to him. "Hefty, Zeron, split up and let's take them one by one," Auron said through his vehicle's communicator. Hefty and Zeron both turned off to the side, as did two of the orange warriors in their Beamcycles, while Auron raced straight ahead toward the orange warrior who was heading straight for him. Soon both Auron and his opponent veered off to the right when they got very close to each other. The orange warrior tried to catch up and overtake Auron, but Auron was apparently faster and had him pinned between some energy walls and headed straight for the Arena wall, with no way to stop or exit. The orange warrior screamed as he and his Beamcycle collided with the wall, causing some damage to it by taking out a small chunk of the wall. Hefty, meanwhile, was dealing with an orange warrior who was trying to box him in and eventually had him going through a series of quick successive turns that he tried to navigate with precise turning. He made it out and found himself headed straight for the hole made in the Arena wall that looked like it could be a way out. Hefty gunned the accelerator for all its worth and headed straight for the hole in the wall. The orange warrior riding beside him was too distracted by what he was seeing his opponent doing and collided with an energy wall. "Auron, Zeron, I'm smurfing out of here, and you two are invited," Hefty called out through his communicator as he headed straight into the hole in the wall. "Understood," Auron said as he and Zeron were also headed toward the same location with an orange warrior riding between them. The two blue warriors suddenly made a sharp turn that left the orange warrior driving himself straight into a dead end, and he and his Beamcycle were both destroyed. However, their attempt to escape didn't go unnoticed, as Commander Razor watched the whole thing from his Carrier and signaled the Patrolbots to intercept Auron and Zeron before they went into the hole in the wall. A Patrolbot moved its legs together and tried to stamp them out, but missed completely. "Greetings, Game Warriors," Hefty said as he saw Auron and Zeron escape from the Arena on their Beamcycles. "Let's get ourselves going," Auron said. "Commander Razor's going to send out his Patrolbots and Game Tanks to stop us once we leave the Protective Zone." "Game Warriors, this is an illegal exit! You must return to the Arena immediately!" the female announcer warned. Soon the three warriors found themselves being followed by the Patrolbots as they dove down to follow them. However, as the Beamcycles had gone into an underpass, the Patrolbots just came to a stop and hovered ominously, hoping to catch them if they come back out the same way. "Oh man, smurf at all those tanks," Hefty said as he, Auron, and Zeron passed by rows upon rows of dark silent tanks. "Those are the Vindicator class tanks, Hefty," Auron said. "Real dangerous vehicles that make regular Game Tanks seem like mere toys." And then suddenly a few tanks came to life and started to chase after them. Auron and Hefty passed by the tanks with no problem, while Zeron barely escaped as he was lagging behind. "Let's see if we can lose them in the canyons," Auron said as he led the other two warriors through a winding passageway, avoiding the cannon fire coming from the tanks as Razor's forces targeted the renegades. Hefty did his best to keep pace with his friends until they came to a narrow ledge and then came to a stop before they turned and drove down a very narrow passageway alongside the canyon wall. A Game Tank slowly skidded to a stop as it reached the ledge, but another Game Tank following close behind also did the same and bumped the first Game Tank over the ledge, causing it to be destroyed as it landed at the bottom of the canyon. The three Game Warriors drove as far as they could until they found a place where they could hide themselves from Razor and his forces. As soon as they came to a stop, the Beamcycles disappeared, and they were left holding the batons. "This is incredible," Hefty said. "On the other side of the screen, this smurfs all so easy." "'Other side of the screen'?" Zeron wondered. "Never mind...it's a little too complicated to explain it all," Hefty said as he looked around at his surroundings. Wherever they were, it was a whole lot better than being stuck inside the Cell Grid playing games forever. "We made it, Zeron...if only this far," Auron said. "You think Pixel will still be there waiting for you, along with the Creators?" Zeron asked. "They'd better be, and I can only pray that Pixel is all right," Auron answered. ----- Empath sat at breakfast by himself, still thinking about Hefty, when Smurfette came over to talk to him. "What's smurfing on with you today that you need to smurf by yourself, Empath?" Smurfette asked. "This smurf is just thinking about Hefty, how he disappeared last night when he was playing the Game Wand while the tavern was closed, Smurfette," Empath said. "This smurf didn't expect him to be so addicted to the new game that was on it that he would sneak into the tavern to play it himself in the hopes that he would beat it." "Oh, that sounds terrible, Empath," Smurfette said. "Do you know where Hefty is now?" "From what this smurf could figure out, Hefty is probably in another world that is somehow inside the Game Wand, Smurfette, though this smurf can only wonder how he got there in the first place and whether it has anything to do with that new game." "But you are going to find out where that game smurfs from, and how to smurf Hefty out of where he is now," Smurfette said. "You're not going to smurf up on him even if he doesn't treat you like you're his best friend." "This smurf is going to find a way to help get Hefty back home, Smurfette," Empath said. "No amount of harrassment that this smurf may get from Hefty is going to stop this smurf from caring about what happens to him." "I'm very glad to hear that from you," Smurfette said with a smile. Duncan McSmurf joined with Empath and Smurfette at the breakfast table. "The whole village is wondering where Hefty's been since nobody's seen him smurfing out of his house since last night, laddie," Duncan said to Empath. "Hefty has probably been transported into the very game that he was playing on the Game Wand last night, Duncan," Empath said. "Transported into the Game Wand?" Duncan said, sounding surprised. "Michty me, how could that be possible?" "It was probably something that was in the game itself that got activated when Hefty reached the end of the game when he was playing it while the tavern was closed," Empath answered. "Poor Hefty," Smurfette said with a sigh, feeling her heart going out to him. "We'll smurf through the day without him for a while, lassie," Duncan said. "He's a big enough Smurf that he can handle whatever he's smurfing through right now wherever he is." "Right now the Game Wand is in Handy's workshop, where he will be trying to find a way to get Hefty out of its memory and back into our world," Empath said. "I'd hate to see any other Smurf get smurfed to wherever Hefty is," Smurfette said. "We won't let that happen, as long as the Game Wand is in safe smurfs for the time smurfing," Duncan said. ----- In the world of Gametron, Hefty, Auron, and Zeron were exploring a cave that they were walking through together, hoping to find an exit somewhere. Everything in the cave felt so weird for Hefty to navigate his way through since he wasn't used to the type of geometry that made up the world's natural structures, causing him to slip and fall at times. "Does it bother any of you that the sky always appears to be night in here?" Hefty asked. "Is there anything like the sun that smurfs over your world in the daytime?" "The sun? What is that?" Zeron asked. "It's a big shining ball of light that smurfs from one end of the sky to the other that lets you know that it is daytime," Hefty answered. "Our world naturally produces light, Hefty," Auron said. "It's just that Sarkamel is siphoning all its energy to sustain himself, which is why everything seems to be so dark here." "You mean nothing in your own world produces its own light, Hefty?" Zeron asked. "I just know that the sun produces light for us, as do the stars in the sky, Zeron," Hefty answered. "The more I smurf of this world, the more it makes me miss the one that I come from." "We'll find a way for you to get home, Hefty, trust me," Auron said. And then they saw a light up ahead. "There...that looks like an opening." Auron went ahead and climbed up to the ledge where he saw an opening to the world outside the cave. Zeron and Hefty followed and soon joined Auron as he looked at the glistening city that was in the distance. "There it is...Digitopolis," Auron said. "Somewhere in that city, Pixel is waiting for me. I've got to find her and let her know that I have escaped." "But how are we going to find out a way to get Hefty home, Auron?" Zeron asked. "My Creator probably has the answer, but to get to him, I need to access that Input/Output Tower in that city," Auron said, pointing to the glowing beam that was coming from the topmost structure of the city. "Now all we have to do is smurf there in one piece, whatever it smurfs," Hefty said. "The thing is, we've got to keep a low profile, not let Razor or Sarkamel know what we're doing outside the Arena," Auron said. "It won't take long for him to find out, though," Zeron said. Then Hefty found something ahead. It looked like water, but somehow it was glowing. "What is that?" he asked as he and his associates got close to the pool where it was collected. "Energy...pure energy," Auron said as he knelt down near the pool and scooped some of the liquid into his hands. He drank of the liquid, and as he did, Hefty noticed that it made Auron's glowing lines glow much brighter. "That's just what I need right now, after being so penned up in that Cell Grid for microcycles," Zeron said, also scooping up the liquid in his hands and drinking of it, causing his glowing lines to glow much brighter as well. Hefty decided to try it out for himself. It had a taste that he couldn't define, but it was certainly much better than water. "Boy, this stuff makes coffee seem rather bland by comparison," Hefty said as he drank more of it. "I have no idea what coffee is, but I would be interested in finding out," Zeron said as he took another handful of liquid energy to drink. "So how do you...uh, Gametronians...even survive when you play the games before Sarkamel ruined everything?" Hefty asked. "Each Game Warrior is equipped with a Regen before every match, so that if they perish, they will regenerate instead of control-alt-delete, Hefty," Auron said. "Sarkamel made sure to take away that safety measure when he took over Gametron." "Wow," Hefty said, sounding a little impressed. "I sure feel bad for those being smurfed to play these games without them." "Things will change, Hefty," Auron said. "My Creator will not let this world be controlled by Sarkamel for long, as long as I am still operating." After spending some time drinking from the pool of liquid energy, Auron stopped. "I can feel it, my friends. It's my Creator...he's calling for me," he said, looking as if he needed to be somewhere to be in contact with his Creator. "Come on, let's get ourselves going." "Hold on, we're right behind you," Zeron said as he and Hefty joined Auron heading down towards the road in the open space where they pulled out their batons and caused their Beamcycles to materialize before they sped away. Smurf to Part 5 Category:Empath the Luckiest Smurf stories Category:Inside The Game chapters